was a after '' Ansei'' and before ''

Bunkyū was a after '' Man'en'' and before '' Genji''. This period spanned the years from March 1861 through March 1864. The reigning emperor was . Change of era * March 29, 1861 (''Man'en 2/Bunkyū 1, 19th day of the 2nd month'') : The new era name o ...

''. This period spanned the years from March 1860 through February 1861. The reigning emperor was .

Change of era

* March 18, 1860 (): The new era name was created to mark the destruction caused by a fire at Edo Castle and the assassination of

Ii Naosuke was '' daimyō'' of Hikone (1850–1860) and also Tairō of the Tokugawa shogunate, Japan, a position he held from April 23, 1858, until his death, assassinated in the Sakuradamon Incident on March 24, 1860. He is most famous for signing th ...

(also known as "the disturbance" or "the incident" at the Sakurada-mon). The previous era ended and a new one commenced in ''Ansei'' 7. The new era name is derived from an hortatory aphorism to be found in '' The Book of the Later Han'': "With 100,000,000,000 descendants, your name will forever be recorded" (豊千億之子孫、歴万載而永延).

Events of the ''Man'en'' era

* 1860 (''Man'en 1''): First Western professional photographer to establish residence in Japan,

Orrin Freeman Orrin Erastus Freeman (1830–1866) was an American professional photographer in China and Japan. Freeman worked in the ambrotype process. For a short time, Freeman opened a photography studio in Shanghai in 1859 before leaving China for Japa ...

began living in YokohamaHannavy, John. (2007). * 1860 (''Man'en 1''): First foreign mission to the United States.Press release
"First Japanese Diplomatic Mission to U.S. Is Subject of May 24 Lecture,"

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The librar ...

, April 16, 2010.

Gallery

Image:SakuradaGate2.jpg, Edo Castle's Sakurada Gate (''Sakurada-mon''): The assassination of Ii Naosuke occurred nearby.

Notes

References

* Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). ''Japan Encyclopedia.'' Cambridge:

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the reti ...

.
OCLC 48943301
* Satow, Ernest Mason and Baba Bunyei. (1905)
''Japan 1853-1864, Or, Genji Yume Monogatari.''
Tokyo: .

External links

National Diet Library The is the national library of Japan and among the largest libraries in the world. It was established in 1948 for the purpose of assisting members of the in researching matters of public policy. The library is similar in purpose and scope t ...